Euthanasia or Not?

[HolySpirit08]

I’m still here trying to understand this subject and my choices for my uncle.

In plain simple language, will someone please tell me if feeding tubes are considered ordinary or extraordinary means of keeping someone alive. My uncle, at 95 years of age would probably have been able to be kept alive on feeding tubes. He would not have wanted them and his living will stated that but was it my responsibility to insist that a tube be placed in his stomach because the Church dictates that is the moral thing to do to preserve life? He was not able to eat or drink naturally without choking most of the time.

I am waiting to hear back from a priest but still am imposing on you all here on this forum because of the vast well of knowledge here.

Many thanks.

 

[HolySpirit08]

It’s quite alright that no one answered this. I drove for miles to see a traditional priest who was recommended by a dear person on these forums and he clarified for me that our choices for my uncle were correct and not extraordinary.

If anyone is ever in the position of having to make these choices while under stress and fatigue, please ask a priest to come by the hospital and speak with the doctor together with you and make the best decision for the patient within the quidelines of the Church.

Many blessing and heartfelt thanks.

 

[Trishie]

My prayers and sympathy that your uncle is so ill and that you have had to deal with this issue.
May God bless you for your efforts to do right by your uncle and the Church.
I’m thankful that you were able to obtain the advice of a good priest.
And thank you for your advice.

 

[diggerdomer]

From the Charter for Health Care Workers from the Pontifical Council for
Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers (1995)

1. Aware that he is “neither the lord of life nor the conqueror of death,” the health care worker, in evaluating means, "should make appropriate choices, that is, relate to the patient and be guided by his real condition."234
   Here he will apply the principle — already stated — of “appropriate medical treatment,” which can be specified thus: "When inevitable death is imminent, despite the means used, it is lawful in conscience to decide to refuse treatment that would only secure a precarious and painful prolongation of life, but without interrupting the normal treatment due to the patient in similar cases. Hence the doctor need have no concern; it is not as if he had failed to assist the person in danger."235
   The administration of food and liquids, even artificially, is part of the normal treatment always due to the patient when this is not burdensome for him: their undue suspension could be real and properly so–called euthanasia.

Excerpts from Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Service (USCCB 2001)

Part 5: Issues in Care for the Dying
The truth that life is a precious gift from God has profound implications for the question of stewardship over human life. We are not the owners of our lives and hence do not have absolute power over life. We have a duty to preserve our life and to use it for the glory of God, but the duty to preserve life is not absolute, for we may reject life-prolonging procedures that are insufficiently beneficial or excessively burdensome…
The use of life-sustaining technology is judged in light of the Christian meaning of life, suffering and death. Only in this way are two extremes avoided: on the one hand, an insistence on useless or burdensome technology even when a patient may legitimately wish to forgo it and, on the other hand, the withdrawal of technology with the intention of causing death…
These statements agree that hydration and nutrition are not morally obligatory either when they bring no comfort to a person who is imminently dying or when they cannot be assimilated by a person’s body…
Directives…

1. A person has a moral obligation to use ordinary or proportionate means of preserving his or her life. Proportionate means are those that in the judgment of the patient offer a reasonable hope of benefit and do not entail an excessive burden or impose excessive expense on the family or the community.
2. A person may forgo extraordinary or disproportionate means of preserving life. Disproportionate means are those that in the patient’s judgment do not offer a reasonable hope of benefit or entail an excessive burden, or impose excessive expense on the family or the community.
3. There should be a presumption in favor of providing nutrition and hydration to all patients, including patients who require medically assisted nutrition and hydration, as long as this is of sufficient benefit to outweigh the burdens involved to the patient.

Hope these references help. Lots more available at lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=doc I don’t think there’s a simple answer, so much depends on the actual circumstances for these difficult decisions. Also, with scientific progress, what does or does not constitute extraordinary means changes.

Best wishes.

 

[Newbie2]

True, there is no simple answer to whether feeding tubes are extrodinary care or not, each case is different.

 

[HolySpirit08]

What a journey this has been. I wish more people would read this thread as well as my other thread under Moral. I have read and re-read all of the reference material on various sites on the internet and still was not sure whether I had done the right thing or not.

Speaking with a very traditional, elderly priest yesterday and having prayed to be lead to the right priest sealed the deal for me. He told me that my uncle had suffered enough as his various degrees of suffering had gone on for almost 10 years. At the end, his struggle was enough as well. Father said that God does not want us to suffer endlessly and at some point, it is time to move on to the next life, particularly if the patient is ready, had received last rites and was, for God’s sake, 95 years old and not well. A pacemaker was keeping his heart beating strongly. If it were not for the pacemaker which is extraordinary, my uncle’s heart would probably have given up long ago because of his choking and “coughing” prolems due to the stroke he suffered 9 years ago.

I tend to think and live my life in black and white terms. Learning that there are a lot of gray areas in making choices and decisions about ending artificial means of keeping someone alive has been a blessed relief. Yes, life here on earth is a gift from God but we should not lose sight of the fact that modern medicine keeps us in this life longer than perhaps God had planned. Modern medicine also prevents more often than not, from moving on to eternal life with God.